Chick-fil-A is killing its employees while lining its pockets.
Learn the disturbing truth that this multi-billion dollar corporation doesn’t want anyone to know.
Capitalizing on Demand
We’ve all seen the lines of cars waiting in the drive through line at our local Chick-fil-A. And over the past few years we’ve seen an increased number of young men and women with tablets and card readers walking these lines of cars, taking orders at 5-10 times the rate the window cashier could previously.
This isn’t by accident. Chick-fil-A’s corporate officers saw an opportunity to speed up ordering in order to meet demand and hired thousands of additional employees nationwide to walk these lines of cars day in and day out in order to increase profits… and they did.
Extreme Profits
Chick-fil-A raked in $18.8 Billion in 2022. Up over 100% from just 5 years prior.
This means that Chick-fil-A has increased its annual growth by over 500% since it began stationing young people out in its parking lots to take customer orders.
Obviously the corporate purpose of this is to increase revenue at the expense of safety, but there’s no surprise there:
“At Chick-fil-A, we are very grounded on our corporate purpose.”
– Chick-fil-A CEO, Dan Cathy
(Since this data was first published, Chick-fil-A grew another 14.7% in 2023 to a record $21.5 billion in one year.)
What They’re Hiding
Carbon Monoxide or “CO” is an odorless, colorless gas that comes from your car’s exhaust pipe, and it can kill someone in a matter of minutes in an enclosed space. Fortunately, the concentration for CO needs to be high in order to be acutely deadly. The problem is that CO also contains particulate matter or “PAH”. PAH are tiny particles that when breathed in, get absorbed into your bloodstream and stored indefinitely throughout your body in fat cells. These particles have been directly linked in numerous studies to heart disease, respiratory problems, brain disease and cancer.
With the majority of its employees in the 18-20 (or younger) range, Chick-fil-A is able to offer minimum wage pay to thousands of young people who are unaware of the life-long danger taking these positions will have on them.
But while these teens may not be aware of the risks, you can be sure that the Cathy family and the rest of the executive team at Chick-fil-A are. They either live in Atlanta where Chick-fil-A is headquartered, or in similar progressive cities, all of which have bans on idling engines on public streets.
The Evidence
PAH is the reason that 41,000 Americans die every year from secondhand cigarette smoke according to the CDC (and that’s just tobacco smoke). According to a study conducted by Stanford University using PAH measuring equipment from the EPA, researchers found that equipment placed on a sidewalk to measure passing smokers registered greater concentrations of PAH from vehicles passing 10-15 feet away.
Studies like this are the reason that so many cities have banned idling vehicles in front of schools and public buildings. Yet Chick-fil-A is placing thousands of young people within inches of hundreds of idling vehicles for hours at a time.
Invisible CO gas and its particulates are being breathed in at levels 100s of times greater than those emitted from cigarette smoke, and Chick-fil-A gives no warning to the young employees who will be permanently and irreparably damaged by this.
The Victims
Getting your first job is something to be proud of. It’s many young people’s first chance to feel productive and important within their communities. These pictures show pride and commitment and spirit. The tragedy is that many of their lives will be cut drastically short because they chose to work for a company that puts profits over the safety and well-being of its employees.
They have no idea that their company is literally poisoning them. And they may not find out until they visit the doctor in a few years and learn that they have the lungs of a 60-year-old. Or they collapse from a run at 26 to find out they have heart disease. Or they start having headaches in their 30s and find out that it’s actually brain cancer.
These are the tragic yet very real conditions that will devastate the lives and futures of these young people in the years to come. We need to act.
Reader Responses
“This is horrifying!”
I’m shocked and disturbed to learn this. How are these young people supposed to know that they’re being poisoned by their employer?
– Hypothetical Person #1
“Have they no shame?”
I thought Chick-fil-A was supposed to be run by people who loved God and respected life. This is the opposite of respecting life!
– Hypothetical Person #2
“How do we stop this?
I’ve already stopped supporting Chick-fil-A, and I’ve been telling everyone I know to do the same. But more needs to be done to call attention to this.
– Hypothetical Person #3
“HELP! My daughter works at Chick-fil-A.”
My daughter has been working at the Chick-fil-A drive through for the past 6 months! I’ve made an appointment for her to see a doctor but I’m terrified that irreversible damage has already been done!
– Hypothetical Person #4
“We need to take immediate legal action!”
I’ve contacted the City Council and District Attorney’s office in my city and there’s a hearing scheduled in 2 weeks to discuss this with the community.
– Hypothetical Person #5
“I’m organizing a boycott of Chick-fil-A”
Here are links to our “Boycott Chick-fil-A” Facebook and Instagram pages. We’re spreading the word to support community action against this evil corporation.
– Hypothetical Person #6
Are you disturbed by this too?
Share your responses here, and help bring an end to this terror.